Schizophrenia – Chapter 19

From the Library she headed straight back to the dorm. She sensed some inquisitive gazes from the students she passed along the way, but she ignored them all. If they came to talk to her, she would give a reply, but she had no obligation to respond to simply being looked at. When she entered her room in the dorm, she was greeted by Alisa’s bow.

“Welcome back, Mistress Lilia.”

“I’m back. …Were you in this room the entire time?”

“Yes. That is so?”

“It would’ve been fine to go out somewhere too you know.”

“I had not received permission so…”

Quite the inflexible one, thought Lilia with a slight frown, when Sakura gave a wry laugh.

—It’s the first day back after all. She probably stayed in the room to be ready so that you could return at any time right. Well, it’s also true that she didn’t receive any permission, but even if she did, she probably would have stayed here the whole day anyways.

—Am I really that unreliable?

—Yup. After two weeks of being a shut-in, you can’t really refute that can you.

—Muu…

Since she thought that it was just as Sakura said, she couldn’t rebut. She already had a precedent for becoming a shut-in, so Alisa was bound to be worried.

—Besides, you actually did skip out on class too huh!

—That was… No, you’re right.

—Yaaai, you delinquent~

—Oh shut up.

She returned her gaze to Alisa. Alisa was worriedly looking at Lilia.

“Alisa. I’ll be fine. You can feel free to go out from tomorrow on okay.”

“Is, that so?”

“Yes. Well then, I’ll be studying in the bedroom. Could you call me if there’s anything?”

“Certainly.”

Sent off with a bow by Alisa, Lilia entered the bedroom. Closing the door, she headed for the table at the corner of the room. The bookshelf beside the table was probably organised by Alisa, as the learning materials were neatly arranged by subject.

—Sakura. I’ll be counting on you today as well.

—Alri~ght. Get out the pap~er, get out the pe~n, let’s give it our a~ll!

Lilia did as instructed and placed paper and a pen on the table, and while hearing Sakura’s energetic voice, a slight smile leaked out on on her face.

She was putting down Sakura’s words on the paper. What she was being taught, currently, was arithmetic. Within arithmetic there was something called an abacus, and listening to random numbers from Sakura, Lilia was calculating the sums in her head. Since they couldn’t prepare the tool Sakura talked about, all of the calculation was done with a mental image instead.

—Lilia. Someone’s here.

Lilia lifted her head upon hearing Sakura’s words. Turning over the paper with various numbers written on it, she turned towards the door. A knock immediately followed.

“Mistress Lilia. There is a visitor.”

Lilia frowned in doubt. There shouldn’t have been anyone in the school who’d come to visit her. Previously she did have some ‘followers’ of sorts around, but since coming back, there hadn’t been any sign of them either.

“Who?”

“It’s Mistress Tina.”

Lilia eyes widened in surprise. They had just met in the morning after all, so she hadn’t expected her to come visit already. What purpose could she possibly have come for?

—No you see Lilia, you can’t be wondering about purpose and stuff. You’re friends right?

—What are you talking about, this is the upper class nobles’ floor after all, it’s not a place you can come to just for the reason of ‘vising a friend’ you know.

—No, but… Huh? Did Lilia just make more sense than me!? Oh the disgrace!

—Hey what are you trying to imply here.

While feeling somewhat dissatisfied from Sakura’s remark, Lilia stood from her seat. She went with Alisa to the door of the room. Opening the door, there stood a nervous looking Tina.

“Mistr… Lilia. Good evening.”

Still having trouble with the honorifics, thought Lilia, though she decided to not say anything since at least she caught herself midway this time.

“Good evening, Tina. Is there some matter?”

“It can’t really be called a matter but… If you’d like, want to have dinner, together?”

“That’s… I don’t mind, but is that okay for you?”

“Yup. Of course. I shouldn’t need anyone’s permission to have dinner with a friend right?”

One way or another, she was starting to see the reason why the Prince came to like this girl. Getting along with someone from the prideful noble bunch in the first place was impossible, but even if that wasn’t the case, this girl was probably very easy to get along with regardless.

“Alright. Shall we go? Ah but that was just secondary right? The real topic is?”

“Eh? Real topic? What?”

Seeing Tina adorably tilt her head slightly to the side in confusion, Lilia cheeks twitched. She was aware of Alisa smiling wryly behind her. For some reason she felt a little embarrassed, and her cheeks became tinted slightly red.

—Fu. So what I said was correct after all. My win.

—Ha?

—Wai-that’s scary Lilia! I was just kidding!

Lilia clicked her tongue with a ‘tsk’ in her thoughts, and ‘hii-‘, Sakura let out a frightened voice. Leaving that Sakura alone, Lilia affixed a smile to her face.

Translator #2

When not swimming with polar bears or sleeping in an igloo, likes to stare at incomprehensible moon runes believing them to be messages from the ancestors. Until the caribou meat runs out. Was promoted to Deputy? Arbiter by a wandering Sheeprabbit on a hunt one day and brought to a place named after some person called Chan, Onii.

Translator #3

Translator #4

Hey everyone, I'm Kou-san and I translate stuff.
I hopped on board because my social life was dying and I needed something to keep me from descending into darker chuuni pits. Now, back to learning how to run on water...

Translator #8

Hello, Kudarajin de~su! I'm just a student passing by, translating stuff! Started this since there was a series I really liked that I wanted to share with everyone. I'm trying to share the joy I feel when I read web novels with more people around the world! Now that my self-introduction is over, back to my glorious plan to turn everyone in the world into bookworms...

Translator #9

Graphical Editor #1

Graphical Editor #2

It was a dark and stormy night...the little slug, abandoned by all of it's friends, moved onwards. It undertook a hard and unwelcome journey. The ground was slippery cobblestone, all sunny-gleam and glass-sharp marble gluing the jagged edges together to resemble something beautiful. Walking upon the path would have hurt the slug, considering all the jagged pebbles knocked aside to and fro that it had to crawl over, if not for the water that fell from the sky and aided the slug's way to a place of suitable shells. And on the slug continued on this path, a little nervous but a lot determined, until two long shadows coalesced and stood in its way. "Slug! It's a slimy slug!" one crowed mockingly, laughing cruelly along with other shadows in a discordant symphony as they loomed over the slug, dark and threatening. "I'm not a slug!" it said in response, even as it flinched back. "I am a snail, like the rest of the snails. I just have no shell." The shadows did not seem to hear, and they surrounded the slug, holding sticks and tossing it around. "Stop!" the slug cried, but they did not stop. The rain spilled over the slug, until it didn't, and the slug lay helpless on the side of the streets, unmoving. There were many voices, screeching their victory as they walked into the distance, and the slug was bitterly reminded of the insults its siblings had told it. It did not resist as it was kicked harshly by a passing object and thrown into the air, landing on its soft underside so quickly it faded into unconsciousness, prone and helpless to any that wanted to eat it. It sadly thought that, perhaps, its siblings had been right. However, the slug did not die. It came to, after a long, long time, to see a large, patterned rock. "...Hello?" the slug whispered mutely, voice weak and barely audible, not expecting an answer. But surprisingly, the rock moved, revealing a wisened head that craned over to look at the slug. "Hello," it greeted calmly, "What are you? I have not seen any like you before." The slug took a long moment to comprehend its words, and even then, it felt floored. Someone who had not heard of slugs at all? "I...am a snail, who has no shell, seeking a place of suitable shells that will fit me, like the shells in the place of suitable shells near my home that fit my kin." "Is that so?" the other asked. "I cannot understand, for this shell of mine has been mine ever since my birth. I can, however, understand the need for a shell to watch your back and hide you away from the world, if that is why you wish for a shell." "It is," the slug replied. "It must be a joy to you, to have a shell crafted for you for your lifetime." "But I cannot choose another," the other answered, "While you can." It was a long, quiet moment of contemplation before the other spoke again. "Do you think this shell of mine is good?" The slug was startled, but it answered willingly enough. "Yes." "Do you think this shell of mine is strong?" "Yes," the slug answered, this time a lot more slowly, bemused. The other gave a tiny, weak smile. "Do you think this shell of mine is suitable?" The slug did not hesitate. "Yes," it said, and it could not have said anything more profound. "What are you?" the slug finally queried. "I am a turtle." And the turtle smiled wider, kindly. It may have been just a feeling. It may have been just a thought. But the turtle also said these very words: "You are a snail with a shell." And even though the turtle's shell was all lines and edges and angles, and the shells of the snail's brethren were all curls and swirls wrapping itself into rings of promise, the slug was a snail with a shell, and that was all that mattered.